I was listening to a song on the radio the other day and according to the singer it was called Liddle Iddly. I always thought it was called Little Italy. What's with the not pronouncing Ts?
2007-03-17 01:26:44 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's possible they were pronouncing the t's as d's, but it's also possible that they were t's, but the distinction was difficult for you to hear.
Actually, in standard American English there are MANY t's that may SOUND like d's to British ears, but they are not. It's all a matter of context (what sounds are around it) The main difference you hear is that, in some contexts the T is pronounced with a little puff of air (called 'aspiration') and so is very distinct. Many British dialects (included the "Received Pronunciation") use this aspiration in most or all contexts, while in American English there are many situations where it is DROPPED.
Some examples of where it is used and not used in American English:
"t" at the very beginning of a word is aspirated. Thus "try" and "dry" are easy to distinguish.
When a vowel sound both precedes and follows, the T is NOT aspirated, which may make the distinction more difficult to hear. Example: "British" as spoken by Americans. Part of the reason these T's may sound like D's (and may even be pronounced as D's in SOME dialects) is because the surrounding sounds use the VOICE, and the /d/ sound is, after all, simply a /t/ sound with the voice added.
By the way, note that I wrote 'before a vowel SOUND' -- that includes even a mostly swallowed sound, as you find between theT and second L of "little". (It is not as simple as having an L follow. Thus in "bootleg" and "brilliantly", where there is no vowel sounded between the T and L, the T is distinct.) Similarly, "Italy" is pronounced with a vowel sound before and after the T, and so it is not aspirated. But when we say "Italian" there is a slight BREAK betwen the i-vowel and the t, where the air is stopped (called a "glottal stop"). So in this case the T is aspirated and so is very clearly a t-sound.
But in any case, there is still a difference -- D uses the voice, T does not. Thus in STANDARD American English (and no one can account for every dialect or speaker!) "ladder" and "latter" are distinguished. If you want to see this, just look the words up in the American Heritage Dictionary -- available on line at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/-- and you'll see the pronunciation listed includes a D for the first, a T for the latter.
2007-03-18 14:08:24 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a Brit living in America, and I find that in general the Americans enunciate much better than the English. I think that the English are sloppier in their speech. We tend to miss out whole syllables, or miss the ends off words. And not all Americans pronounce "t" as "d". I think that in songs there is more leeway.
2007-03-17 01:37:39 · answer #2 · answered by catfish 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I am Americatn and I pronounce my T's. I think maybe some have fallen into a lazy habit of substituting the d sound. Or it could be a local habit. We all have our unique ways of speaking particular to the regions from which we hail. That is what makes us all special.
2007-03-17 01:31:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It could be a local dialect, but most likely its "poetic license". He's singing a song for crying out loud...95 % of the music i hear on the radio there is no way to figure out what the heck they are saying, let alone figure out if they are pronouncing the words correctly.
2007-03-17 01:38:49 · answer #4 · answered by Stefano 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Seems to be the latest fad for TV personalities. I have noticed it started about 5 years ago. Calling Putin Pudin, etc. TV people are like monkeys, they see one person doing it and they all follow.
2016-12-07 03:52:44 · answer #5 · answered by lawman53 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We get sloppy in speaking sometimes. It's a faster, easier way of speaking. If I'm speaking to a group of my foreign students, I try to be much more careful in my pronunciation.
2007-03-17 01:37:58 · answer #6 · answered by brenbon1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the same in Australia.
like "that's a bedda one than mine" or "I wrode a ledda to Jack".
However, many Londoners don't replace 't' with 'd' - they just leave the sound out altogether,
like "I pu' i' in the wa'er" or "li'l I'aly" or "the ba'le of Bri'ain".
.
2007-03-17 10:28:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it depends on the word. people in america say towel. not dowel. when its in the middle of a word sometimes people pronounce the t as a d. ????
2007-03-17 01:30:55 · answer #8 · answered by johann vandershmutt kadabeena... 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Da Bears. And dats da way id is
2007-03-17 01:36:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I often pronounce "t", but never in often.
2007-03-17 01:34:17 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋